UPMSP Intermediate History - Code 128 key terms

The study of soil and debris layers at an excavation site, where deeper layers are generally older. Archaeologists use layer sequences to place finds in relative time order.

Dating objects or cultures by their position relative to one another, such as lower versus upper layers or typological sequences, without assigning calendar years. It is later tested against absolute dates.

A scientific method that estimates the age of organic remains by measuring the decay of carbon-14. It gives absolute dates for material such as charcoal, bone and wood within roughly the last 50,000 years.

One of the earliest scripts used in South Asia, written from left to right and ancestral to many later Indian scripts. Ashokan edicts and early inscriptions are largely in Brahmi.

An ancient script written from right to left, used mainly in Gandhara and the north-west for Prakrit texts. It appears on Ashokan edicts and on coins and documents from that region.

Inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka carved on rocks and pillars across the subcontinent, mostly in Prakrit. They record his dhamma policy, moral instructions and administrative messages to officials and subjects.

A Sanskrit eulogy praising a ruler's lineage and achievements, often inscribed on stone or copper plates. The Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta is a famous example of the genre.

A Gupta-era prashasti composed by Harishena praising Samudragupta's conquests and policies. It is a key source for Gupta political history and for the idea of a multi-tiered sovereignty.

A land or privilege record inscribed on copper plates and given to Brahmins, temples or officials. These grants are major sources for agrarian and administrative history after the Gupta period.

A published account of a site's digging, describing layers, structures and finds with drawings and photographs. Historians rely on such reports to judge the reliability of archaeological claims.

A major city of the Harappan Civilisation in the Punjab region, known for granaries, workmen's quarters and a cemetery. It gave its name to the entire civilisation.

A large Harappan city in Sindh famous for the Great Bath, a planned drainage system and a citadel mound. It is the best-known example of Harappan urban planning.

A large rectangular water tank with steps at Mohenjo-daro, built of brick and made watertight with bitumen. It is usually interpreted as a site for ritual or purificatory bathing.

Small square steatite objects bearing animal motifs and short undeciphered signs, probably used for trade and administration. Their impressions helped identify the civilisation's trading contacts.

A Harappan coastal site in Gujarat with a large basin interpreted as a dockyard, plus workshops and a warehouse. It shows the importance of maritime trade in the civilisation's economy.

In Ashokan inscriptions, a moral and social code emphasising respect for elders, tolerance among sects, non-injury and welfare. It was promoted through officials called dhamma-mahamattas rather than as a formal religion.

The bureaucratic system of the Maurya empire, with a king at the centre, provincial governors, district officers and spies. Kautilya's Arthashastra and Megasthenes' account are its main sources.

A Sanskrit treatise on statecraft attributed to Kautilya, dealing with taxation, diplomacy, war, espionage and economic policy. It is central to debates on Mauryan administration and ancient Indian political thought.

A royal or elite donation of land, revenue rights or both, usually recorded on copper plates. Such grants are linked to the growth of landed intermediaries and changes in early medieval polity.

A Gupta ruler whose campaigns and policies are described in the Allahabad pillar inscription. He is associated with extensive conquests, tribute collection and patronage of Sanskrit culture.

A religious tradition founded by Siddhartha Gautama, teaching the Four Noble Truths and the path to liberation from suffering. It spread widely under royal patronage and developed monastic institutions called sanghas.

A religious tradition emphasising non-violence, asceticism and the liberation of the soul, associated with teachers called Tirthankaras. Mahavira is regarded as the most recent Tirthankara in this lineage.

The Buddhist monastic community of monks and nuns, governed by disciplinary rules and supported by lay donors. It became a major landholding and educational institution in early India.

A dome-shaped monument built to house sacred relics and used as a focus of Buddhist worship and circumambulation. Sanchi and Amaravati are among the most studied examples.

A fourfold social classification of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra found in Brahmanical texts. It is an idealised model that differed from actual social and occupational groups.

A local endogamous social group defined by birth, occupation and marriage rules. Jati identities were more fluid and regionally varied than the fourfold varna scheme.

A broad term meaning duty, law, righteousness and social order, with different meanings in Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jain contexts. In Brahmanical texts it is tied to varna and stage of life.

The four Brahmanical stages of life: student, householder, forest dweller and renouncer. The scheme expresses an ideal life course rather than a description of universal practice.

A revenue assignment given by a Sultan to an officer, who collected revenue from the area in return for service. The system shaped Delhi Sultanate administration and the position of the iqtadar.

The holder of an iqta, responsible for collecting revenue and maintaining troops in his assigned area. Iqtadars were transferable and accountable to the Sultan's central administration.

A Mughal officer ranked in the mansabdari system, with a zat and sawar rank indicating personal status and cavalry obligation. The rank system organised military and civil service under the empire.

A Mughal revenue assignment made to a mansabdar in lieu of cash salary, from which he collected taxes. Jagirs were normally transferable and were not hereditary property.

A local landholder or revenue intermediary who collected taxes from cultivators and remitted them to the state. Zamindars held hereditary rights and could also perform military and judicial roles.

A land revenue system introduced in Bengal by the East India Company in 1793, fixing revenue with zamindars in perpetuity. It created a class of landed proprietors and affected agrarian relations for generations.

A revenue system that assessed land directly with individual cultivators, or ryots, rather than through zamindars. It was used extensively in Madras and Bombay presidencies.

A British policy under which states without a natural male heir were annexed by the Company. It was applied by Dalhousie and contributed to resentment before the revolt of 1857.

A widespread uprising of soldiers, peasants and rulers against Company rule, beginning at Meerut and spreading across north India. It led to the transfer of power from the Company to the Crown.

A method of non-violent resistance developed by Gandhi, combining truth and firmness to confront injustice. It was used in campaigns such as Champaran, the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Salt March.

A mass campaign launched in 1920 urging Indians to withdraw cooperation from British institutions and boycott foreign goods. It was suspended by Gandhi after violence at Chauri Chaura in 1922.

A campaign of organised law-breaking launched in 1930 with the Salt March, aimed at challenging British authority. It produced mass participation and a series of negotiated round table conferences.

Gandhi's 1930 walk to Dandi to make salt in defiance of the salt law, which opened the Civil Disobedience Movement. It became a symbol of mass nationalist defiance against colonial monopoly.

An agitation by Indian Muslims and allied nationalists to protect the Ottoman Caliphate after the First World War. Its alliance with the Non-Cooperation Movement marked a high point of Hindu-Muslim political cooperation.

The political position that Hindus and Muslims formed separate nations requiring separate states. It underpinned the Muslim League's demand for Pakistan and shaped the politics leading to partition.

The division of British India into India and Pakistan at independence, accompanied by large-scale migration and communal violence. It created lasting disputes over borders, resources and citizenship.

The boundary drawn in 1947 between India and Pakistan by a boundary commission chaired by Cyril Radcliffe. Its hurried demarcation left disputed areas and displaced communities along the border.

A political organisation founded in 1906 to represent Muslim interests, which later led the demand for a separate Pakistan. Its Lahore Resolution of 1940 marked a decisive shift toward separate statehood.

Original material such as inscriptions, coins, manuscripts or contemporary records produced in the period being studied. Historians interpret primary sources critically rather than accepting them at face value.

A later work that interprets and synthesises primary evidence, such as a textbook or scholarly monograph. Its reliability depends on the author's methods and use of sources.

The study of coins, including their weight, metal, inscriptions and distribution. It helps date rulers, trace trade and study economic and religious change in ancient and medieval India.